These are among world’s oldest travel photographs (and you can bid for them)

Stunning captures show Egypt of the 19th century

Maxime Du Camp's shots include landmarks such as the Sphinx and the Pyramids.

Centuries before Instagram and selfie sticks came our way, a French surgeon’s son camped in the scorching heat of the Egyptian desert to capture its glory. Now, these rare 19th-century photographs by Maxime Du Camp are up for auction online.

Counted among the first-known volumes of travel photography, these black-and-white shots cover a range of landmarks across Egypt, Nubia, Palestine and Syria, including the Pyramids, the Sphinx and the statues at Aswan. Du Camp used a wooden Calotype camera and a tripod to capture these 59 (of the original 125) photos, apparently between 1849 and 1852 during a government-supported expedition with his friend, the legendary novelist Gustave Flaubert. The prints were created with the original negatives pressed upon card mounts. The pictures were also featured in the French publication Égypte, Nubie, Palestine et Syrie.

The lot was later sold off as collectibles and handed down over generations of a South African family, which is conducting the auction. Paul Mills, the antiques dealer in charge of the batch at Antiquarian Auctions, believes the pictures may fetch more than $20,000 (Rs13.4 lakh). The auction will end on Thursday, 1 September; click here to bid.